Jan 22 (Reuters) - Sagimet Biosciences said on Monday its experimental drug was statistically significant in reducing symptoms of a fatty liver disease in a mid-stage study.

However, the company said that nearly 20% of patients dropped out of the study due to adverse events that emerged during treatment with the drug, versus 5.4% for the patients treated with a placebo.

Sagimet's shares were up 2% at $6.9 in premarket trading.

The drug developer said it plans to hold a meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and begin the late-stage study of the drug in the second half of this year. (Reporting by Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Shailesh Kuber)